John webster cochran



IMPROVEMENT IN BBEEGl-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

ilge tlgrhule referat tu in tha -ietttr ttoit mounting pmt if itc time.

'ro AL'LwHoM 1T MAY coNcERN;

` Be it known that I, JOHN WEBSTER COCHRArLof the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms, oi' which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the Aaccompanying drawing, which fern-1s part of this' specification, and in which- .Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section of the breech part of a'iire-arm illustrative of my invention. I I

lFigure 2, a transverse section through the line :c .je in iig. 1. i, Figure-i3, a. horizontal section of the samef,

Figure 4, a plan thereof. Figure 5, Aa side view ofthe lever that operates.'the4 detonating pin. Figure 6, a transverse section thereof through the line-z z in iig.l 5; and Figure 7, a" plan of my improved shell extractor detached'.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the gurcs. My invention consists, firstly, in a novel construction of' and mode of applying and operating a movable breech.v ffurther consists in apeculiarly constructed Acartridge-shell extractor and mode of operating the `same by the action of the movable breech, said extractor being4 a detached portion ofthe gun and lying within the breech-receiver. It likewise consists in a peculiar combination, applicable'v to outside hammer-pieces or arms, of' devices for operating the pin which explodes the cartridge; and it furthermore consists in a combination, with a movable breech arranged to open by lifting and sliding backwards, of .a rubber or elastic packing, operating not only to exclude, dust or dirt and 'make tight the joint, but also, on closing, serving to prevent slamming of 'the'mo'vable breech against the rear end of the barrel or chamber. This, my invention, in all or several of its parts-may be applied to fire-arms which originally were muzzle-loaderayby counter-boring the barrel from its rear end to the diarneter of the .exterior of the largest part of the cartridge-shell, and mortising and otherwise formingthe stock in the-rear to accommodate the movable breech withits accompanying parts.

` I will now proceed to describe the same' with'reference to the accompanying drawing, 'in which the movable breech is shown as made up of a front breech-piece, A,^and brace, B, jointed theretoat a, and extending backwards. Said breech i's-made, when closed, to snugly lie in an oblong opening in the breech-receiver'C, within .which latter'ther-breechfpice A is fitted, soas to slide backwardly on lifting the rear ends s s of. the brace out of 4thereceiver C.' Guides o r' groovesmay be established',internally lin the sides of said receiver to direct the breechpiece A -in its' course. An India-rubber packing piece, D, is or may be inserted between a forward protruding lip,`I1,-of' .the brace and upper surface oi the breech-piece, to exclude dust 4ordirt, and give a moderately tight yet elastic *hold on the whole breech, when closed, to keep it so, and 'serving to prevent slamming of the breech-piece against the rear endet' 'the barrel or chamber E, bythe rubber, insliding to and closing the breech, irst coming in contact and requiring'to be compressed in order to Vshut downthe brace. This rubber packing is so fitted in thebreech as that it i1-lay be readily drawn out and afresh packing substituted when required. Being elastic it does not restrain the self-adjustuient of the breech-piece to the barrel or chamber. The jointed, connection of the brace B with the breech-piece A, and mode of opening the breech by slightly lifting therear vend of theibraoe and pulling ordrawing'it backwards in lino with the barrel, and allowing the breech-piece to be guided in its course preferably by the jointpin a travelling in grooves d in the receiver 0, iiornis a simple and eii'ectivebreech-loading arrangement, which gives a self-adjusting action to the breech-piece, on closing, to make tight its junction with the. chamber I?. Such movablebreech, it will be seen, materially diEers p from othersemploying a brace. F is a cartridge-shell extractor, constructed as shownin the drawing, for operating on a centre-fire, or otier cartridge, provided, as iscommonly the case, with a. Bange around its rear end; but by suitably forming the forward endef saidextractor it may be made to gripe on and remove cartridges'havin'g lno end flange. This extractor is a detached or loose piece. of metal arranged to t freely in a groovefe, running longitudinally'along the bottom of the ninterior of the Abreech-'i-eceiver C. It is or may be made of a concave or double incline conguration on its upper t" ce, and with a iiange or upwardly projecting lip,f, at its frontend to clip the cartridge o n Athe inside of itj' and 'langeso as to remove the shell, after eiiplosion, bypullin'g on or against the'lange.. At .its rear elf'. said yextractor'is not only provided with an upwardly projecting lip, g, forming a head thereto, but said head and the rear ond ofthe body ofthe extractor are sloped or cut away underneath, as at 71., so that on lifting the rear end of the brace B, a-'nd drawing back the breech, the lower end of the breech-piece A, which projects below the body of the brace, is made to catch against the back lip or head g ofthe eittractor, and draw with it the cartridge-shell out of its chamber into the receiver C, until the upper rear portion of the head g, which is bevellethas at z', strikes an inclined recess, j, in the rear end of the receiver, which causes the backend of the extractor to be depressed, and its forward end to be suddenly 'tilted up, whereby, and on simultaneously raising the 'brace B, the cartridge-shell is so jerked upwardly 'as lto be readily removed from the-receiver C. This action of the extractor and brace is represented by vred lines in fig. 1. To secure this action o'f the extractor there is none of that complication of parts which is peculiar to other arrangementsl for effecting a like object. By reason of the position land Inode of operating theimovable'breeeh, the arm o'r gun is representerlas having its hammer on the outside. G- is the hammer thereof, which, on the breech being closed, is made, when 'ring, to strike a head, 7c, of a slidingrod, H, within the brocoli-receiver on the hammer side. This sliding-rod, which has its longitudinal movement controlledby a pin, Z, projecting through a slot in the rod, bears at its front end against a spring, m, that serves to throw and k'eep it back when not acted upon bythe hammer. Near its front end is a vlaterally and downwardly projecting lip, n, that, as the hammer in striking, urges forward the rod, gives the requisite abrupt motion -to a detonating pin, I, having, for centre-fire cartridges, a centre point or arm, and being arranged within the body of the breech-piece A. For other cartridges the detonat-ing pin may be otherwise arranged. To enable the protruding end of the detonut'ing pin to pass the operating lip n of the rod H, on lifting the brace and drawing back the breech, said rod is soV fitted in the receiver C as that it may slightly rock on the pin l, and on lifting the brace its rear end be'forccd inwardly and its front end outwardly by means of a spring, o, let into the rea-r end of said rod on itscne side. This allows the detonating pin to pass the lip n, whilc,'on shutting the breech, the brace B in closing is made to bear-.against an inclined lateral formation of the head 7c, which forces outwardly the rear end of the rod H, and its front end inwardly to put in striking position again the lip n, with the protruding ond ofthe detonating pin.

Having described my invention, what I claim, isf-- 1. The sliding broeehpieee A, and swinging brace B, jointed together at (1, :md arranged lfor operation' substantially as shown and described.

2. The arrangementvof the elastic packing l), with or in the movable breech at its forward end, and operating not only to hold said breech, when closed,- and make tight its joint in front, but serving, without restraining the self-adjustment of the breech-piece, to prevent concussion of the latter against the gun chamber -on closing the-breech,'essentially as specilied.

3. The cartridgeshell extractor F, constructed with its roar end inclined or bevellcd on its upper and lower sides, as at th, operating in connection with the inclined recess j, in the rear -end of the receiver C, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. A

4. The sliding-rod H with its forward lip n, and rear projection or head c, hung and arranged for operation in combination with the brace B, 'ha1nmerG, and detonating pin I, substantially as specified.

J. W. COCHRAN Witnessesz.

HENRY T. BROWN, J. W. Cocinas. 

